Students from a Chester high school were in west coast heaven when they embarked on a trip to America.

Staff from Queen’s Park High School in Handbridge took 49 students from Year 7-13 to the other side of the world on a visit to Los Angeles and San Francisco in California.

After a gruelling 11 hour flight, students spent the first few days visiting Hollywood, Santa Monica and Universal Studios before venturing up the coast through Malibu and on up to Santa Cruz and finally San Francisco.

Louis Hart in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time was amazing and, juxtaposed against the island of Alcatraz, was an incredible sight.

As part of the trip they were fortunate to visit the islands and take a tour of the jail and even meet one of the reformed former prisoners as he signed books of his experience as an inmate.

Students met a reformed former prisoner at Alcatraz

Other highlights of the trip included walking down the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, standing on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl and visiting Pier 39 on San Francisco with its incredible array of shops and restaurants.

Lead practitioner at the school Matt Yeoman said: “This was truly an experience that none of us will ever forget and certainly served as an opportunity to broaden the aspirations of our students.”